< Fragmented Realities > by Maxim Wakultschik | Gallery Ysebaert, Belgium, 2020 by XP · ART AGENCY

MAXIM WAKULTSCHIK

F R AG M E N T E D R E A L I T I ES

XP · ART AGENCY in cooperation with Gallery Ysebaert is pleased to pres ent FRAGMENTED REALITIES, the first solo exhibition by MAXIM WAKULTSCHIK in Belgium

Hypnotizing, mesmerizing, fascinating! For the first time in Belgium Maxim Wakultschik The master of 3D icons of our time

19th August - 14th December 2020

Maxim Wakultschik is an internationally acclaimed artist known for creating multifaceted and dynamic artworks that act as optical illusions. He is intrigued by the nature of perception and mathematically based components, which generate visual motion and create a blurred border between reality and illusion. Maxim establishes an exceptional interactive relationship between the observer and the artwork, the slightest change of perspective leads to spectacular transformations.

Public information Gallery Ysebaert Manhautstraat 60 9830 Sint-Martens-Laten Belgium Visitors are welcome to discover the extraordinary and unique artworks by the master of three-dimensional portraits Maxim Wakultschik. Some of them were created 2020 especially for this exhibition. The exhibition is open to public on Wednesday - Sunday: 1 pm - 6 pm Vernissage events Under COVID-19 safety measures 4th & 5th, 12th & 13th September 2020 Artist Talk: 12th September 2020 at 4 pm, artist will be present Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic we have extra safety measures in place. Gallery Ysebaert provides hand sanitizers and mouth masks. The gallery has continuous air ventilation and a spacious sculpture garden. All of us have to adapt to the current social change, therefor the visitors will be kindly asked to keep the safety distance during their visit. Gallery Ysebaert has several hundred square meters so there is a sufficient space to provide the necessary safety distance. We continuously endeavor that the visitors will have an enjoyable time.

Born 1973 in Minsk, Belarus Maxim moved to Düsseldorf, Germany in 1990s where he graduated from the renowned Düsseldorf Art Academy. Maxim’s body of work comprises a variety of different techniques, such as toothpicks, broken glass, wood, paintings and more. Gallery Ysebaert in cooperation with XP · ART AGENCY is pleased to present a fascinating selection of both figurative and abstract art by Maxim Wakultschik where he involved using thousands of toothpicks to create pixilated, threedimensional compositions. Faces are the essential part of his work. Admiring beauty, the artist finds inspiration in his inexhaustible imagination and creates portraits of mostly imaginary women and famous artists. Maxim considers abstraction and figuration not in opposition to one another, for him it is rather a zooming in process into the peculiarities of the figurative composition. His intention is to free the viewer from identifying with, or relating to, the personality behind the face and to chase beauty, harmony and aesthetics in every artwork. Maxim believes that by dissolving the object of the figurative composition its details can be appreciated profoundly. The observer might see in Maxim Wakultschiks‘s art traces of the pointillism movement, in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. Unlike the pointillists, instead of paint Maxim applies diligent a unique and complex technique of wooden elements to create a three-dimensional cohesive image. When you stand close to a portrait, it is abstract, but from a distance it is realistic. And if you look closely at a small detail and an amazing play of light and shadow, it is easy to understand why it took several months to create it. Manually he uses an insane 12 thousand toothpicks in countless shades of color for a medium size work to achieve this distinctive vibrance effect. Maxim’s individual artistic approach makes his compositions shimmer and volumetric, threedimensional and enable the viewer to perceive the cosmos of colors in an intensive way. Undoubtedly Maxim Wakultschik is one of the most talented and patient contemporary artists, the master of transforming thousands of pixels into 3D icons of our time. Xenia Petrischenko M.A. International Arts Management XP · ART AGENCY

MA XIM WAKULTSCHIK FRAGMENTED REALITIES

Maxim Wakultschik Sotto Voce 2020 Toothpicks / Optical Portraits Wood Upright 100 x 80 cm

MA XIM WAKULTSCHIK FRAGMENTED REALITIES

Maxim Wakultschik Noelia 2020 Toothpicks / Optical Portraits Wood Upright 80 x 60 cm

MA XIM WAKULTSCHIK FRAGMENTED REALITIES

Maxim Wakultschik Loreley 2020 Toothpicks / Optical Portraits Wood Upright 57 x 43 cm

MA XIM WAKULTSCHIK FRAGMENTED REALITIES

Maxim Wakultschik Andromeda 2020 Toothpicks / Optical Portraits Wood Upright 57 x 43 cm

MA XIM WAKULTSCHIK FRAGMENTED REALITIES

Maxim Wakultschik Carpet.Quatar 2018 Toothpicks / Optical Portraits Wood Upright 140 x 105 cm

MA XIM WAKULTSCHIK FRAGMENTED REALITIES

Maxim Wakultschik #51 2017 Toothpicks / Optical Portraits Wood Upright 80 x 60 cm

MA XIM WAKULTSCHIK FRAGMENTED REALITIES

Maxim Wakultschik Elisa 2017 Toothpicks / Optical Portraits Wood Upright 57 x 43 cm

MA XIM WAKULTSCHIK FRAGMENTED REALITIES

Maxim Wakultschik Late Summer Love 2019 Toothpicks Flat / Optical Portraits Wood Flat 141 x 106 cm

MA XIM WAKULTSCHIK FRAGMENTED REALITIES

Maxim Wakultschik Kyoto 2020 Toothpicks / Optical Portraits Wood Upright 57 x 43 cm

MA XIM WAKULTSCHIK FRAGMENTED REALITIES

Maxim Wakultschik Asopis 2019 Toothpicks / Optical Portraits Wood Upright 57 x 43 cm

Maxim Wakultschik CV Born 1973 in Minsk, Belarus Lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany Education 1992 - 2000 Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (Arts Academy of Düsseldorf), Düsseldorf, Germany: Studies of Painting and Drawing with Professor Jannis Kounellis and Professor Beate Schiff 1984 - 1991 Belarusian Lyceum of Fine Arts, Minsk, Belarus Awards And Accolades 2009 SWITCH ON Kunstpreis Licht 2009 (Art Award Light 2009): Recognition Award, Graefelfing, Germany 2006 Kunstpreis Wesseling: Special Prize for Originality, Wesseling, Germany 2005 PSD Bank Award, Rhein-Ruhr, Düsseldorf, Germany 2001 Sparkasse Bayreuth Art Award, Bayreuth, Germany Stadtwerke Herne AG Young Art Award, Herne, Germany Emprise Art Award 2001, NRW-Forum Kultur und Wirtschaft, Düsseldorf, Germany 2000 Caspar von Zumbusch Award, Herzebrock-Clarhorst, Germany Kö-Galerie Award, Düsseldorf, Germany 1987 Union Competition Diploma: Third Prize, Moscow, Russia Solo Exhibitions 2020 Fragmented Realities, Gallery Ysebaert, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium Maxim Wakultschik, ART Galerie 7, Cologne, Germany Pointillism 4.0, Christian Marx Galerie, Düsseldorf, Germany Sichtung, von fraunberg art gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany 2019 Inter-Moment, Galerie im Schlosspavillon Ismaning, Ismaning, Germany Aljoscha – Bioethical Aberrations / Maxim Wakultschik – Polymorphismus, Städtische Galerie “sohle 1”, Bergkamen, Germany (with Aljoscha) (Catalog) Reflektieren, Flimmern, Rieseln (Reflecting, Flickering, Trickling), Galerie Seidel, Cologne, Germany (with Igor Chepikov) Shape Shifting, Städtische Galerie Schwabach, Schwabach, Germany Perception, ART Galerie 7 / Meike Knüppe, Cologne, Germany (with Janos Schaab) 2018 In and Out of Focus, curated by COVA Art Gallery, het Archief, Eindhoven, The Netherlands architecture meets art, Galeria Simon Nolte at Burkhard Reinsch’s Villa La Vida, Majorca, Spain (with Stephan Marienfeld) One Thousand and One, Anya Tish Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA The New Art Order, Christian Marx Galerie, Düsseldorf, Germany Trugbild oder Täuschung (Illusion or Deception), Galerie Seidel, Cologne, Germany The Illusion of Perception, von fraunberg art gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany

MA XIM WAKULTSCHIK FRAGMENTED REALITIES

2017 Neue Werke (New Works), Galerie Simon Nolte, Münster, Germany Blurred Boundaries, COVA Art Gallery, Eindhoven, Netherlands Maxim’s World of Art, ART Galerie 7, Cologne, Germany Malerei, Paintings, Galerie an der Pinakothek der Moderne / Barbara Ruetz, Munich, Germany (with Nico Kiese) 2016 Neue Werke von Maxim Wakultschik (New Works by Maxim Wakultschik), Galerie Simon Nolte, Münster, Germany Perspective Three, TRIBU HOUSE, Geneva, Switzerland Monuments, Christian Marx Galerie, Düsseldorf, Germany 2015 Art meets Fashion – Inline unlimited, von fraunberg art gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany (with Agata Agatowska) Porträt. Form, Farbe, Illusion (Portrait. Form, Color, Illusion), NEW AG, Mönchengladbach, Germany Faces, Unique Gallery, Galerie Claudia Junig, Cologne, Germany Facetime 2.0, Galeria Simon Nolte, Portocolom, Majorca, Spain (with Sebastian Herzau) 2014 Maxim Wakultschik – Der heimliche Blick (Maxim Wakultschik – The secret Gaze), Alte Honigfabrik, Kunstverein Ibbenbüren, Ibbenbüren, Germany Maxim Wakultschik – Der zweite Blick (Maxim Wakultschik – At second Glance), Galerie Palais Walderdorff, Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst Trier e.V., Trier, Germany Von Angesicht zu Angesicht (Face to Face), Museum im Haus Hövener, Kunstverein Östliches Sauerland, Brilon, Germany Face Time, Galeria Simon Nolte, Portocolom, Majorca, Spain Maxim Wakultschik – Face Time, Galerie Michael Nolte, Münster, Germany Die Poesie des Alltags (The Poetics of Everyday Life), Kunstverein Aurich, Aurich, Germany Maxim Wakultschik – Zeitfenster (Maxim Wakultschik – Time Window), Kunstverein Gundelfingen, Gundelfingen, Germany Maxim Wakultschik – GESICHTS-ZÜGE – Malerei und Objekte (Maxim Wakultschik – Facial Features, Train of Faces – Painting and Objects), Kunstverein Heidenheim a. d. Brenz, Heidenheim a. d. Brenz, Germany Maxim Wakultschik – The Art of Shadow, Kunstverein Nümbrecht, Nümbrecht, Germany Face to Face, Alte Brennerei, Kunstverein Ebersberg, Ebersberg, Germany 2013 Nachtzug nach Moskau (Night Train to Moscow), Kunstverein Biberach, Biberach, Germany Maxim Wakultschik, Galerie Frank Pages, Geneva, Switzerland New Objects, von fraunberg art gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany Hall of Fame, Christian Marx Galerie, Düsseldorf, Germany Trainspotting, Municipal Gallery, Versandhalle Grevenbroich, Grevenbroich, Germany FaceTime, Anya Tish Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA Maxim Wakultschik – Schilderijen, Wandobjecten (Maxim Wakultschik – Paintings, Wall Objects), Galerie BMB, Amsterdam, Netherlands Maxim Wakultschik, Roland Gallery, Cologne, Germany (catalog) Maxim Wakultschik – Peintre, Plasticien (Maxim Wakultschik – Painter, Sculptor), The Raymond Banas Art Gallery and House of Culture, Metz, France (catalog)

2012 Der heimliche Blick (The Secret Gaze), Kunstsammlungen der Stadt Limburg, Limburg a. d. Lahn, Germany wirklich – nicht wirklich (real – not real), Kunstverein Barsinghausen e.V., Barsinghausen, Germany (catalog) 2011 Ost-West Nachtzug (East-West Night Train), Städtische Galerie Petershagen, Petershagen, Germany Maxim Wakultschik – Malerei (Maxim Wakultschik – Painting), Turmgalerie Schloss Augustusburg, Augustusburg, Germany Maxim Wakultschik – Malerei, Yukiya Izumita – Skulptur (Maxim Wakultschik – Painting, Yukiya Izuminta – Sculpture), Galerie an der Pinakothek der Moderne / Barbara Ruetz, Munich, Germany 2010 Ambivalences, Galerie Michael Nolte, Münster, Germany Maxim Wakultschik – East-West Night Train, von fraunberg art gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany Schein und Wirklichkeit (Pretense and Reality), Kunstverein Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Germany 2009 Maxim Wakultschik – East-West Night Train, von fraunberg art gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany 2007 Maxim Wakultschik – Deception, Burkhard Eikelmann Galerie, Düsseldorf, Germany (catalog) Deception, Kunsthalle Neuufer am Park, Pirmasens, Germany 2006 Dualities, Anya Tish Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA (catalog) Snare, Kunstraum Glashaus, Düsseldorf, Germany (catalog) 2005 Identity, Galerie Seidel, Cologne, Germany 2004 Neue Arbeiten (New Works), Municipal Gallery Blaushaus, Xanten, Germany Face to Face, Anya Tish Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA (catalog) 2003 Face to Face, Galerie Studio 40, Düsseldorf, Germany (catalog) 2002 Vorbild Mensch (Model Human), Kunst & Museum, Hollfeld, Germany 2001 Neue Arbeiten (New Works), HWL Galerie und Edition, Düsseldorf, Germany art drei räume (art three rooms), Kunsthaus Mettmann e.V., Mettmann, Germany Collections Adelta Finanz AG, Düsseldorf, Germany AXA, Cologne, Germany Bach, Langheid & Dalmayr, Cologne, Germany Booz-Allen & Hamilton , Frankfurt am Main, Germany Denk GmbH Berlin, Germany Emprise Consulting GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany Ernst & Young Deutsche Allgemeine Treuhand AG, Frankfurt a. M., Germany Fast Trade AG, Cologne, Germany Hewlett Packard Deutschland, Böblingen, Germany NEW AG, Mönchengladbach, Germany ProFonds GmbH, Munich, Germany PSD Bank Rhein-Ruhr Düsseldorf, Germany PwC Deutsche Revision AG, Düsseldorf, Germany Qiagen AG, Hilden, Germany Sparkasse Herne, Herne, Germany Galeria Arsenał w Białymstoku, Białystok, Poland Taylor Wessing, Düsseldorf, Germany

MA XIM WAKULTSCHIK FRAGMENTED REALITIES

Artist talk

12th September 2020 @ Gallery Ysebaert. Interviewer: Annelies Ysebaert · Interviewee: Maxim Wakultschik Who or what inspired you to become an artist? My mother. It was her initiative to enroll me to an art school when I was 11 years old. You had a very interesting journey. During your studies you worked with blocks and separated elements to create an image and now you work with toothpicks. How did this evolution evolve? I am very religious, and I always liked religious art. Iconography inspired me a lot. In the Russian orthodox church, there is a Saint calendar. One day I started to replace numbers with images of the Saints. And then I inserted the images of my friends instead of the Saints and it turned to be 30 blocks. This work is very symbolical for me and it turned to be the inspiration for me to go into directions of dissolving the image into cubes. My goal was to reflect light on the surface of the motif more intensively in different inclinations and to achieve a stronger play of light. During that time, I had to finance my study at the art academy in Düsseldorf, so I had a part time job in a furniture studio. There I had the chance to experiment with furniture and 3D objects. This was the time when I started to make my art in 3D too. I started to reduce the portraits boxes. Then the cubes turned to triangles and I started to play with light even deeper. This was the moment when light gave birth to faces. I also worked with broken glass splitters and applied it like mosaic. One day I was at the beach and was thinking about the development of my artwork. Then I came up with the idea of the dots and how can you depict dots in 3D. Several materials came into my mind: toothpicks, nails etc. Back in my studio I experimented with many techniques and image carriers, and I found out that toothpicks are spectacular for my work because they are very sharp. Günter Uecker applies nails in his art, but in my opinion, it looks quite rough. The toothpick is so elegant on its peak and I managed to achieve more illusions with them. You see but you do not know what exactly you see. I think it is very mysterious… Why optical illusion fascinates you so much? For me it is important that the observers are confused and that they do not understand right away what is depicted or how does the image occur. I like tension. If you watch the movie for instance and you understand everything, in my opinion it is boring. Something must always remain unsaid. If you see something and you do not know how it functions... your brain starts to work. If you look at a naked woman, you see everything - it is boring. And if she is half naked – it is exciting. Some art critics say that you are the pointillist of your time. I don’t think about how the critics comment my body of work. When I create my work, I do it in a subconscious way. In Russia we have a very strong art study, but the style of teaching is based on classical acade mical and non-contemporary art. My work is in a way based on classical art, but it is not primarily my intention, it is much more experimental. The expression of my distinctive style has always been the focus.

You work in both figurative and abstract styles. Do you intend the viewer to see behind the beauty of those women? The creation of my art is a consecutive process. The work with flowers is the fundament of my portraits and my ideas. This is the basic motif out of which the faces arise. What I am doing now is returning to my ground ideas, this is how I came up to depict the flowers, because this is actually the basis of my work. This basic idea consists in a play with light and shadow. I want to confuse the observer. For 5 years I have been doing portraits in the upright toothpick technique, which you can see in this exhibition. The first portraits I placed on a grey background and now I take color background. The brain perceives the edges of the color toothpick on a color background more intense and it creates a stronger vibration. If the observer moves, the image starts to vibrate, and the 3D effect occurs. The interaction between the observer and my work is essential. What is your message? I am a very positive and very energetic artist. My portraits are neutrals, they are either women or men. They are like angels, first people on earth, immaterial, spiritual. From paradise. Like in the paintings from Botticelli. They are gentle and positive. I would like to transmit my feelings and personality through those figures. Do you have an artistic goal? Yes, to be the best artist in the world, to be exhibited in established museums and to be part of 100 Forbes list. How long are your working on one piece? (audience) Many people ask me this question. If I calculate the hours maybe I can make one small work in 2 weeks. But I do have lots of other work too, which refers to the production of the art in my studio, such as: office, I travel to other cities and countries for the exhibitions so at the end it takes around 2 months. For commissions I need around 6 months production time because I have lots of work and I work on several art series parallel. Since the age of 11, I have been continuously thinking about my art, even in my free time. If I sleep, I think about my art. I spend lots of time in the development of my ideas. I have one assistant who paints my toothpicks. I also have one assistant who makes holes in the image carrier so I can then create the toothpick portrait. I am not sure how much time they spend on doing that, but it takes time. The creation of the work you see consists of many steps and milestones. You are using toothpicks not only upright but also flat. Is there a reason why? (audience) Yes. When I am working on the upright series there are left over lots of damaged toothpicks. So, I came up with the idea to use broken toothpicks to create other series of work. It’s like tapestry from the Renaissance. After this style turned out to be distinct, I decided to make it to a new series of work. Maxim, Thank you very much for this interesting interview. Thank you

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Gallery Ysebaert

Imprint

Galler y Ysebaert is an exclusive, contemporar y art gallery with a main focus on paintings and sculptures. Each exhibition is presented with a balanced mix between national and international artists and is changed every three months. The exhibitions are curated thematically as one coherent entity, however, visitors can request to see any of the works of our represented artists at all times.

The publication is released on the occasion of the exhibition < Fragmented Realities > by Maxim Wakultschik, presented by the cooperation between Gallery Ysebaert and XP · ART AGENCY

Thanks to the carefully selected collections which are exhibited over an area of 300m 2 , each and ever y artwork has an equally powerful presence. The works are divided bet we en 2 exhibition rooms and our soothing sculpture garden which, among other things, contains a collection of bronze and Cor ten steel sculptures. www.galleryysebaert.be

XP · ART AGENCY XP · ART AGENCY has been founded to build an international networking in the field of contemporary art and is dedicated to the implementation of one of a kind and sustainable art projects that seek to increase the unique and important cultural environment. XP · ART AGENCY is committed to providing a dynamic platform for artists who broaden the boundaries of traditional expression and whose mission is the creation of enriching and profound messages filled with innovation and courage of progress. Another objective of XP · ART AGENCY is to generate discourse on the international cultural exchange and deepen the mutual understanding across nations, embracing a comprehensive approach to art. We bel ieve this is fundamental to foster tolerance and create harmony within the global society. www.xp-art-agency.com

Exhibition period 19th August - 14th December 2020 Exhibition location Gallery Ysebaert Manhautstraat 60 9830 Sint-Martens-Laten Belgium +32 499 97 61 48 info@galleryysebaert.be www.galleryysebaert.be Publisher XP · ART AGENCY Project & Artist Management Xenia Petrischenko M.A. International Arts Management Maternusstrasse 32 50996 Cologne Germany +49 178 6778 002 info@xp-art-agency.com www.xp-art-agency.com Text Xenia Petrischenko Layout Oleg Kantorovitch Artist All artworks © Maxim Wakultschik Photographer Pages 30-33 (except p. 32 bottom) © Victoria Poelman Press information For further information, images or to arrange interviews, please contact: Annelies Ysebaert, Gallery Ysebaert +32 499 97 61 48, info@galleryysebaert.be Xenia Petrischenko, XP · ART AGENCY +49 178 41 54 653, xenia@xp-art-agency.com

MA XIM WAKULTSCHIK FRAGMENTED REALITIES